Comment on post New Mexico vacation:2011-10-17T13:43:57+00:00Yo, you were within 150 miles of me! :)

So you didn't watch the bats exit or enter the caverns? We were there in May of 2008, and we were disappointed at the meager trickle of bats that exited the cave in the evening, but we were told there were more in autumn.

Comment on post link smattering:2011-08-02T01:54:22+00:00Interesting article. It makes me sad and ashamed that I've given up on programming.

Comment on post just some links: movies, money, voting:2010-11-30T12:12:14+00:00I just read the list of films. Personally, I found "Up" to be more touching and meaningful than "Wall-E," but I like every Pixar film I've seen. Also most Miyazaki films I've seen -- the exception was "Howl's Moving Castle;" reading the book years ago may have ruined the movie for me.

Anyway, 's a good list to refer to when updating our Netflix queue.

Comment on post What webOS app to work on next?:2010-09-03T13:22:27+00:00I'm not familiar with Reddit nor with webOS, so I don't know if my answer counts for much. =)

Comment on post happier when busy, sorta:2010-07-26T22:23:16+00:00An intriguing article, but I'm not sure about the "futile busyness."

Comment on post naps!:2010-04-28T14:51:25+00:00I don't see how someone could nap for any less than 20 minutes. I like 1-2 hr naps myself. Now, if only there were instructions on how to get my child to nap reliably and consistently! Too often, he fights it until he conks out from exhaustion, then wakes up again half an hour later.

Comment on post mini-links:2010-03-15T13:25:45+00:00Haha, Math Man! My husband would probably make fun of me for being nerdy enough to like Square One.

Comment on post Rich Dad Poor Dad review:2010-03-15T04:23:21+00:00Hey, thanks for the review! I saw that book a while ago but didn't read it, and recently I've been wondering about it. I think I've been seeing ads for it.

Comment on post A close shave:2010-03-10T16:41:29+00:00http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_XIII
It looks like Japanese character names are a transliteration of English character names, except for Lightning.

Aside from pretty graphics, how's the game? We will probably buy it used several months from now -- I use my PS3 time for Dragon Age, and aristeros still loves Modern Warfare 2.

Comment on post Heavy Rain review (no spoilers):2010-03-01T18:38:25+00:00 was unable to unwind with Modern Warfare 2 last night because of the problem you mention, but he's shooting people online right now, so it appears to be mostly fixed.

Since becoming a parent, I've found news stories about babies getting hurt more upsetting than I used to.

Comment on post another day, another dollar:2009-09-14T19:21:23+00:00Braid is the time-manipulation game, right? aristeros played that for a few days, but eventually he found it too frustrating — said it "made him feel stupid." I enjoyed the music, though.

Comment on post post-honeymoon link friday:2009-08-07T17:21:48+00:00I haven't clicked through the rest of your links yet (time-lapse wedding photography? interesting), but the Girl Scout cookies thing caught my attention. After a quick skim, I have this response: the success of Girl Scout cookies does not rest on their uniqueness and rarity, but rather on the combination of the yummy cookies and the sense of generosity the buyer gets from making, in essense, a donation to a charitable organization.

I've always thought that the cookies, in and of themselves, are a bit of a rip-off. The boxes get more expensive every year. What are they now, $5 a box? And I'm pretty sure I've seen tasty treats for sale in supermarkets, with flavors and textures comparable to my favorite Samoas (no longer called Caramel Delites, thank goodness) and Thin Mints. But Wal-Mart can't compete with the marketing and delivery method of a little girl in uniform ringing your doorbell, asking you to help out her troop. Copying the cookies themselves is not an assault on Girl Scouts, IMO.

Comment on post link friday!:2009-07-11T19:42:38+00:00Your last week as a swinging bachelor, huh? Are you having a bachelor party? :)
Congratulations in advance!

Comment on post marriage: the gayening:2009-05-20T18:26:49+00:00Just read the NY Times article.... So, the wife having a college education is correlated with a lower divorce rate. Interesting. Also, "Dr. Larry Bumpass" is a very regrettable name!

Comment on post faster pretty pictures:2009-04-22T21:22:40+00:00You still mess with that thing? :) I have to admit that of all the school assignments I've ever done, it's probably the one I would be most likely to tinker with again. Do you have a gallery of your best pictures?

I don't see any of those blobby amoeba shapes. Whatever function that was, it made some of the most interesting pictures.

"As I was leaving, the teller pointed out that I had a lot of money in my bank account and asked if I usually kept this much around, presumably to pitch a savings account or something. I said no, and that I was getting married in a few months, to which she said 'Congratulations!' and quickly dropped it. Later I realized this might have come off as saying my new wife was going to spend all my money or something."

I doubt it. I think it's pretty common knowledge that weddings are expensive. She probably figures, correctly, that the money will be spent on the event.

Comment on post anyone want a camera?:2009-03-16T12:31:13+00:00Those pictures are small -- almost thumbnail size. That's fine. If they were big, or if you put up twenty of them, I'd prefer they be behind a cut tag.

Does your finger feel strange now? It took a week or two for me to get used to 1st my college class ring and again later my engagement ring.

Comment on post 25 things about me:2009-02-03T13:46:37+00:00I'm more of an LJ person too, which is why my Facebook account grabs an RSS feed of my LJ :)

Comment on post attention world:2009-01-27T15:29:20+00:00Then, how about April?

Comment on post hello married people/people who know about weddings:2009-01-26T17:23:59+00:00Sadly, I've never been to Austin. But you should be able to whittle down your 300 search results a great deal by considering other parameters: time of day, day of week, # of guests, catering or lack thereof, price range, etc. A wedding magazine specific to the city, that lists the various reception sites and their attributes, would be a good starting point.

Comment on post weight:2009-01-20T15:02:40+00:00What's with the outliers on Jan. 15 and 16? You couldn't have dropped 1.5 lb and then gained 3 lb in two days..?

So far this year, my effort to lose weight has been to walk the dog. 30 minutes twice a day is a lot more exercise that I was getting last month (none).

Comment on post giving it another go:2009-01-07T10:13:48+00:00What's wrong with snacking, if it's on healthful, low calorie food? My understanding is that many small meals, rather than few large meals, encourages a faster metabolism.

Comment on post friday link friday:2008-12-05T19:11:08+00:00I discovered that Auditorium game yesterday, too, from stryck, and wanted to point it out to you in particular because I thought you'd like it. I wonder if it debuted recently, since we both came across it at around the same time.

Comment on post is it Saturday yet?:2008-11-19T16:59:30+00:00I read the article on Portfolio.com -- do you read that periodical regularly, or did you happen across it? The essay is... enlightening.

Comment on post more election stuff (surprised?):2008-11-03T15:22:20+00:00The idea of voting early appealed to me, as I'm afraid of encountering long lines tomorrow (plus I have other errands to take care of tomorrow), but I didn't know where to go. I still don't know where my polling place is. Wasn't I supposed to receive a sample ballot?

Also, I never got around to researching the issues for myself, but oh well.

Comment on post politics, whereslunch, magazines: an entry in three parts:2008-10-24T17:01:13+00:00Subscribe online. My parents have been Time magazine subscribers for many years, and the stacks of magazines pile up all over the place -- mostly unread, since my dad can't quite keep up with the weekly. I can't speak to which of the two is better; they are both good.

Comment on post best TV shows quiz:2008-09-09T14:22:21+00:00I haven't seen any at all. :) Comes of never having cable, I guess. The last time I watched TV with any regularity was high school.

Comment on post panhandling:2008-08-28T14:41:36+00:00I don't encounter panhandlers very often. When I do, the panhandler is usually a man with a cardboard sign standing at a street corner or under an overpass. These people are easy to ignore from the comfort of my car; I generally feel a pang of guilt but shrug it off.

Panhandlers one meets while walking around on foot are a little harder to ignore, especially if they say something to you. I usually try to avoid eye contact in hopes of not being talked at. If the panhandler does ask me if I can spare any change, I mumble a "Sorry, no," and walk away quickly.

When I was younger I often dug up some coins to give, but I don't anymore. This is more to do with fear for my personal safety than with worrying about what the person will do with my money: I want to keep my interaction with the panhandler to a minimum. Prejudiced? Perhaps.

One summer day a couple years ago, I brought my lunch to the edge of Central Park to eat, and a guy came up to me and gave me some line about why he needed money. He was pretty persistent and actually struck up a conversation with me. I was a little uncomfortable, but at the same time I was amused, and eventually I gave him the dollar or two that I had in my wallet, more for the entertainment value of his story than because I believed what he told me.

I had another encounter last year, which I describe here. I often wish I'd had a granola bar or other conveniently packaged food to give the person instead of cash, since he/she usually claims to be hungry.

Comment on post random stuff friday!:2008-08-08T16:22:17+00:00How did you come across the rug sale anecdote? It's interesting, and I am now looking up Robert Cialdini on Amazon.

Comment on post (no subject):2008-07-23T11:44:24+00:00That is a disturbing article Time published. I'm surprised they don't take a more critical look at the attitudes and premises behind the phenomenon; I expect better of Time.

Comment on post posthumous blog entry:2008-01-07T16:40:50+00:00Had you been following that blog, or did you just happen upon the posthumous post recently?

Comment on post home again, home again jiggety-jig:2008-01-06T19:28:11+00:00Re: Stardust -- read the book, it's so sweet! :) Be sure to get the version with the drawings by Charles Vess.

Comment on post Iran:2007-12-07T14:52:54+00:00It may be difficult to consider the threat to US interests which Iran may or may not pose while not simultaneously considering our fearless leader's attitude; however, just because they're not making bombs doesn't mean they're not developing their bomb-making skillz. http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20071207/ts_csm/afineline Hope you can get past all my double negatives. :)

Comment on post netflix:2007-10-06T16:26:21+00:00Be advised I joined under my married name. Also, that we just started our account, and that it will reflect an amalgam of my and my sweetie's somewhat disparate tastes.

Comment on post a big apple a day...:2007-08-23T21:45:17+00:00What? You'll be in NYC? Wanna meet for lunch or something?

Comment on post my bad:2007-07-19T18:24:55+00:00!! I had no idea you had this up and running as a publicly available applet. Oh, the nostalgia...

Comment on post homophobic Super Bowl ad:2007-02-05T11:55:24+00:00I guess I missed the first few seconds of that ad. I thought they were chewing on a cigar, and the whole thing struck me as very strange.

Comment on post LJbackup preview!:2006-12-03T16:41:58+00:00I think it's different from what you are doing, but I want to make sure you're aware of http://www.ljbook.com/

Comment on post Go Turbulent Firewhirls!:2006-12-03T16:37:16+00:00Hello! Have just discovered your blog today, by way of Scribbledom and Doug & Teresa's blog. I've already been weirded out comprehending that Doug & Teresa have two children, although it makes sense intellectually. Learning that you're gay somehow comes as less of a shock.